Rotary cultivating machine construction



May 1 8, 1965 J. A. HOWARD ETAL 3,183,980

ROTARY CULTIVATING MACHINE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 27, 196:: 2, Sheets-Shee t 1 May 18 19 5 J. A. HOWARD Em 3,183,980

ROTARY CULTIVATING MACHINE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 27, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,183,980 RUIARY CULTIVATING MACHINE CQNSTRUCTION John Arthur Howard and John Henry Desmond Craig, West Horndon, England, assignors to Rotary Hoes Limited, Essex, England Filed May 27, 1963, Ser. No. 283,415 Claims priority, application Great Britain, July 12, 1962, 26,799/ 62 2 Claims. (Cl. 172-47) The invention relates to a rotary cultivator of the kind adapted to be supported from a power-lift mechanism at the rear of a tractor, and having a rotor which extends transversely behind the tractor and driven from a power take-oft shaft of the latter. Such a cultivator, as hitherto constructed, has included a substantial frame from which the various components are supported and for investing it with the necessary stiffness and strength. The object of the present invention is a construction of cultivator of this kind which is cheapened by the elimination of the frame and which will still have adequate strength and rigidity.

According to the invention a rotary cultivator, of the kind set forth, comprises a sheet metal casing having downwardly-directed end walls respectively providing journal bearing supports for the ends of the rotor, a roof portion with downwardly-directed, integral front and rear flanges and, within the roof portion, a shield curved to be arcuate about the rotor axis, the ends of the roof portion and its flanges, and the ends of the shield being fast with the said end walls, and the roof portion and its front flange being provided with pick-up points for the tractor power-lift mechanism. It will be seen that besides serving its normal function of encasing the upper side of the rotor the casing takes the place of the frame hitherto considered necessary.

In the case Where the rotor shield arcuately bridges an angle between the roof and front flange of the casing to form a space having a three-sided cross-section, and according to a feature of the invention, a hollow, sheet metal member, of equivalent three-sided cross-section, is secured in the space with its three sides respectively flatly engaging the adjacent portions of the roof, its front flange, and the rotor shield for stifiening the structure.

According to a further feature one of the end walls of the casing forms the inner wall of a drive transmission casing in which the adjacent end of the rotor is connected to be driven from a parallel shaft.

In such a case, and according to another feature, the

said parallel shaft extends parallelly above the roof of the casing to gearing adapted to be driven from a rear wardly-extending power take-off shaft of the tractor, while according to yet another feature the extending portion of the parallel shaft, and the said gearing are encased.

In instances where the drive from the said parallel shaft to the rotor shaft is by a transmission chain trained about unequal sprockets it can be arranged for the latter to be easily interchangeable, or substitutable by other sprockets for providing different ratio drives for the rotor.

According to a still further feature the rear flange of the casing roof provides a hinged support for a depending, rear cover plate.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a rear elevation of one form of cultivating machine in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a corresponding plan view;

FIGURE 3 is a corresponding left-hand side view;

FIGURE 4 is a fro'nt'elevation of the casing of the machine;

. FIGURE 5 is a cross-section to an enlarged scale on the line 5--5 of FIGURE 4, and showing the right-hand end plate of FIGURES 1 and 2, and

' FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of the left-hand end plate of FIGURES 1 and 2, but with a gear casing cover removed.

' The machine shown in FIGURES 1 to 3 is adapted to be attached to the rear of a tractor (not shown) and it has a transverse rotor of which the driven shaft 8, supporting axially-spaced annular rows of earth-working tools 9, is supported within a casing, and driven in the manner shown by those, and the other figures.

The roof of the casing is indicated at 10, its front and rear flanges at 11 and 12 respectively, and the arcuate rotor shield at 13, and these are welded at the ends to respective end walls 14 and 15 of the casing as shown at Ma and 15a respectively. The free edges of the flanges 11 and 12 are out-turned horizontally to form flat lips 11a and 12a, and the shield 13 has corresponding lips 13a, 13]) which are respectively secured flatly to the lips Ila and 12b. This may be .done in any suitable manner as, for example, by spot welds. At the crest of the arc the shield is also secured, as by spot welds to the roof 10.

In this way the casing is formed as a very rigid structure, but where additional stiffness is required a hollow. sheet metal member, generally indicated in FIGURE 5 at 18, of three-sided cross-section is arranged in the three-sided space between the roof 10, flange l1 and shield 13, with its sides in flat contact therewith, and welded in position to the shield and, if desired, to the other parts as well. Further stiffening is provided by making the end plates such as to form gussets 2d and 21 between the front and rear flanges and their respective horizontal lips.

The end walls 14 and 15 are provided with means for supporting self-aligning bearings for the rotor shaft 8, and for this purpose end Wall 14 is shown provided with four bolts 22 which are welded in position for their screw-threaded stems to extend outwardly, and end wall 15 is shown provided with four captive nuts 24 held in alignment with holes in the said end wall by welds at 25. It will be observed that the opening in end wall 14 for the rotor shaft has a downwardly-directed mouth 26 so that the adjacent end of the rotor shaft can be moved into and out of position through it laterally during assemblyand maintenance.

End wall 15 is of greater upward extent than end wall 14, and is provided with a further four captive nuts 27, held by welding 28, for supporting a bearing for a power input shaft presently to be described, and that end wall 15 is provided with an upstanding ledge 29 which surrounds both bearing supports and is welded in position at 30. The ledge forms the periphery of a gear casing in which is contained a chain and sprocket drive 16 from the power input shaft to the rotor. When,

as is often the case, the sprockets are of unequal size they can be secured in a readily detachable manner to their respective shafts so as to permit of them being exchanged, or substituted by other sprockets for changing the ratio of the drive to the rotor. The gear casing is closed by a cover 17 with its edge fashioned to engage the edge of the ledge, and held in position by Wing nuts 31 engaged on screws 31a having their heads welded to end wall 15.

The casing extends approximately the full width of the tractor, and the flange 11, and lip 11a are provided in spaced positions with captive nuts 32 for enabling a connection to be made to the lower arms of the tractor lifting mechanism, while the roof of the casing is provided with captive nuts 33 for use in effecting a connection to the third, and upper arm of the said mechanism. In the form of connection shown (see FIGURES 2 and 3) the nuts 32 receive screws (not shown) to provide anchorages for a pair of forwardly-directed brackets 49, and the forward ends of the latter have welded to them at 41 the feet of a pair of upwardly convergent arms 42. These arms, near their feet, are integral with aligned pins 43 which effect the connection to the lower arms of the tractor lifting mechanism, and adjacent their upper ends they are provided with a connection 44 to the said third arm of the said mechanism. A pair of upwardly-convergent stays 45 are held at the bottom by screws engaged in nuts 33, and have their upper ends secured at 46 to the arms 42. The brackets 49 also adjustably support a pair of arms 47 on which respective depth control wheels 48 are journalled.

The tractor has a rearwardly-directed power take-off shaft at the back, and the roof 10 exteriorly supports a bevel-gear transmission casing 49. The latter is driven, through a reduction gearing 50, by an input shaft 51 which is for connection to the power take-off shaft and is enclosed in a casing 52, and the output shaft 53 (see FIGURE 1) carries the input sprocket wheel of the chain and sprocket gearing 16. The shaft 53 is preferably accommodated within an inverted U-shaped casing 54 having its ends connected to end wall 15 and to the casing 49 of the bevel gearing, and having lateral flanges 54a bolted to the roof 10 of the casing.

The free end of lip 12a has an aligned series of hinge leaves 55 welded to it, and these leaves are interconnected by hinge pins with coacting hinge leaves 56 secured to a rear cover plate 57 which, during use of the cultivator, is swung down to shroud the rear of the rotor and which, when free access to the rotor is required, can be swung upwardly. For holding plate 57 in a raised position the hinge leaves 56 are, as shown in FIGURE 1, continued downwardly over the plate and welded thereto, and are provided at their lower ends with barrels in which are journalled the ends of an inverted V-shaped bar 59 having its centre supported from a chain 60 which can be looped over a hook 61 fast with gear casing 49. By causing the bar to engage the barrels 58 from one side only as shown, the bar and chain can easily be removed when not required for use.

It will be seen that the cultivator described does not embody a conventional frame and can be made of sheet metal so as to have a high degreeof rigidity, and it will also be appreciated that the cultivator is cheaper to produce than those including a separate frame according to earlier methods of construction.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A rotary cultivator, to be attached transversely to the rear of a tractor to have its rotor driven from a power take-off shaft of the tractor, comprising a sheet metal casing and an arcuate shield, said casing defining a roof portion, downwardly-extending end walls and downwardly-extending front and rear flanges, said arcuate shield within said casing and directly secured to said roof portion, end walls and front and rear flanges for stiffening said casing, said front flange, a forward portion of said roof portion and said shield defining a space having a three-sided cross-section, a hollow sheet metal member of equivalent cross-section arranged in said space with its three sides flatly engaging the roof portion front flange and shield for further stiffening the structure, a rotor shaft, said end walls providing supports for bearings for said rotor shaft, pick-up arms for connection to a power-lift mechanism of said tractor fast with said roof portion and said front flange, and drive transmission means for said rotor shaft supported from said casing.

2. A rotary cultivator, to be attached transversely to the rear of a tractor to have its rotor driven from a power takeoff shaft of the tractor, comprising a sheet metal casing and an arcuate shield, said casing defining a roof portion, downwardly-extending end walls and downwardly-extending front and rear flanges, said arcuate shield within said casing and directly secured to said roof portion, end walls and front and rear flanges for stiffening said casing, said front flange, a forward portion of said roof portion and said shield defining a space having a three-sided cross-section, a hollow sheet metal member of equivalent cross-section arranged in said space With its three sides flatly engaging the roof portion front flange and shield for further stiffening the structure, a rotor shaft, said end walls providing support for bearings for said rotor shaft, pick-up arms for connection to a power-lift mechanism of said tractor fast with said roof portion and said front flange, drive transmission means for said rotor shaft supported from said casing, said drive transmission means comprising a gear box mounted on top of said roof portion, a transmission shaft and a drive transmission means interconnecting said transmission shaft and said rotor shaft, said gear box having an input shaft directed forwardly for connection to the tractor power take-off shaft, said gear box having an output shaft substantially parallel with said rotor shaft, and said drive transmission means supported from one of said end walls, said drive transmission means comprising driving and driven means respectively fast with the adjacent ends of the transmission shaft and rotor shaft, said adjacent ends of said transmission shaft and said rotor shaft journalled in the adjacent end wall, a drive transmission casing for the coacting driving and driven means, the adjacent end wall forming the inner wall of said drive transmission casing, a cover plate at the rear of said casing for the cultivator rotor, and hinge means interconnecting the top of said cover plate and said rear flange.

References 'Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,379,469 7/45 Bagan 17247 X 2,680,337 6/54 Whipple 172-45 X 2,694,969 11/54 Chattin 172121 X 2,701,941 2/55 Heth '17245 X r 2,754,744 7/56 Hall 172112 X 2,759,318 8/56 Oppel 172-45 X 3,121,987 2/64 Harris 5626 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,015,326 7/52 France.

431,852 12/59 Switzerland.

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner. 

1. A ROTARY CULTIVATOR, TO BE ATTACHED TRANSVERSELY TO THE REAR OF A TRACTOR TO HAVE ITS ROTOR DRIVEN FROM A POWER TAKE-OFF SHAFT OF THE TRACTOR, COMPRISING A SHEET METAL CASING AND AN ARCUATE SHIELD, SAID CASING DEFINING A ROOF PORTION, DOWNWARDLY-EXTENDING END WALLS AND DOWNWARDLY-EXTENDING FRONT AND REAR FLANGES, SAID ARCUATE SHIELD WITHIN SAID CASING AND DIRECTLY SECURED TO SAID ROOF PORTION, END WALLS AND FRONT AND REAR FLANGES FOR STIFFENING SAID CASING, SAID FRONT FLANGE, A FORWARD PORTION OF SAID ROOF PORTION AND SAID SHIELD DEFINING A SPACE HAVING A THREE-SIDED CROSS-SECTION, A HOLLOW SHEET METAL MEMBER OF EQUIVALENT CROSS-SECTION ARRANGED IN SAID SPACE WITH ITS THREE SIDES FLATLY ENGAGING THE ROOF PORTION FRONT FLANGE AND SHIELD FOR FURTHER STIFFENING THE STRUCTURE, A ROTOR SHAFT, SAID END WALLS PROVIDING SUPPORTS FOR BEARINGS FOR SAID ROTOR SHAFT, PICK-UP ARMS FOR CONNECTION TO A POWER-LIFT MECHANISM OF SAID TRACTOR FAST WITH SAID ROOF PORTION AND SAID FRONT FLANGE, AND DRIVE TRANSMISSION MEANS FOR SAID ROTOR SHAFT SUPPORTED FROM SAID CASING. 